From pre-Civil War Virginia to the distant prairies of the far West, the journeys of young Lew Dorset as he searches the frontier for his father--an escaped convict on the run--are told. Lew finds work as a hunter, heads to the prairies to barter with Indians, survives an attack by a Cheyenne war party, finds shelter with the Sioux, and even takes part in a battle between the Sioux and Pawnee.